Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Psychology

Date of Award

8-2018

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Stacey L. Williams

Committee Members

Ginette C. Blackhart, Julia C. Dodd

Abstract

Sexual minorities face identity-specific stressors (minority stress). Minority stress often predicts worse health outcomes and behaviors, like increased substance use. The current study examined the relationship between proximal minority stress and hazardous alcohol use. Possible mediators were considered. The current study involved a secondary data analysis of data from 48 sexual minority women who completed an online survey. Measures included the Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale, the Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale, the AUDIT-5, the Drinking Motives scale, and an item that measured frequency of drinking. Data, analyzed via R, included t-tests, correlations, regression, and mediational analyses. Results showed that internalized stigma significantly predicted concealment. Community connectedness was neither predicted by internalized stigma nor correlated with concealment. Concealment did not predict coping motives; coping motives significantly predicted problematic drinking. Limitations included a low sample size and low observed power. Therefore, significant results may be found with a higher sample size.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by Sarah A. Job.

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